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Welcome to Borgo Argenina, a truly magical stone estate in the hills of Chianti.

Visiting Borgo Argentina was an experience like no other and my absolute favorite part of our Newly Newlywed Italian Adventure. The 998 AD Peasant Farmer home had been abandoned for years when, now owner, Elena Nappa, discovered the property while on a holiday from Milan. A former fashion designer, Elena quickly fell in love with the estate. She knew in her heart it was a calling for her to restore the hamlet into a stunning seven room Bed & Breakfast and that is exactly what she did. Her story of how she transformed this property without electricity and running water into a fully functioning Bed and Breakfast is really remarkable.

Adam and I drove from Florence to the Chianti hamlet. Passing thousands of grape vines and olive trees, around curvy bends, narrowingly escaping head on collisions with Italian drivers and through the rolling hills to get to Elena’s. Upon arrival at Borgo Argenina we were greeted by Elena’s four-legged friends, Giuseppina and Pasqualina along with other guests who were sitting on the grand stone patio, enjoying a glass of vino taking in the sunset over Chianti.

“Welcome! You must be new! Elena is upstairs in the Kitchen.” one guest said. Instantly we were family.

Our journey at Borgo Argenina began as we passed the bell to ring for Elena if you arrive after hours and opened the original wooden double doors adorned with iron locks and handles.

Once inside the main house, up the narrow stone stairway with one tiny window over looking the garden, we found Elena, tooting around her kitchen.

She grabbed the keys and escorted us to the Piccola Suite, our home for the next four days. We had a quaint sitting room adjacent to our bedroom, an attached private bath and views of the rolling Chianti Hills and Elena’s garden.

Each room is equip with a mini bar and tea kettle that is refreshed daily, wifi and a hairdryer. (Yay! One less thing to pack!) There is no air conditioning at Borgo Argenina, thankfully, even during the Summer months the nights were cool and a flowing breeze filled our room. Elena took us downstairs, showed us the Parlor and Breakfast Room before heading outside.

After a tour of our suite and parts of the property we sat down with Elena on the stone patio outside. She shared some of her favorite places in Tuscany with us over a glass of wine.

We chatted for what felt like hours of friends catching up before we realized the time and that we were late for a supper reservation she made for us at Giorgio’s. We will share that experience with y’all a little later. Delizioso!

Every morning, Borgo Argenina guests are greeting to a beautiful breakfast spread prepared by two of Elena’s three employees. On the daily menu: Fresh Coffee, homemade Yogurt, local meats, cheeses and honey, fresh fruit, and varieties of Elena’s Coffee Cake.

Elena also invites her guests to a nightly Cooking Class at Borgo Argenina. If you’re staying with her, this is a MUST! It was by far the best food we had during our time in Italy and if she had extra room we would have taken the class a second time! Each guest is gifted with her Borgo Argenina Cookbook-filled with Elena’s family recipes and traditional Italian dishes. The time we spent in the kitchen with Elena and other guests was a highlight of our trip. Pop over next Monday to see what was on our Menu!

Y’all, I really can not express how much HeliHubby and I enjoyed our time at Borgo Argenina. It is in a perfect location to be a “home base” for Montepulciano, Volterra, Siena and more little Tuscan Wine towns. It’s truly an enchanting, one of a kind Italian escape. Elena is absolutely wonderful. She is warm, welcoming and lovely. We felt like we had known her for years and yet we just met. Leaving we all three got a bit teary eyed as we said our “goodbyes.” I don’t know when the Newly Newlyweds will get to return to Chianti to visit Elena, but I do know HeliHubby and I both left a piece of our hearts in Tuscany at Borgo Argenina. It is just magical.

If you’re considering a Tuscan Vacation I highly reccomened you consider Borgo Argenina as your home. Have questions about the hamlet or want help planning your vacation? Feel free to message us- I am happy to help!

Fino all prossima volta, we hope you’re enjoying your Newly Newlywed or Nearly Newlywed moments as much as we are!

Adam and I just returned from Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida. If you know me and follow along our Social Media outlets you’ve probably caught on that I LOVE Disney. This week on the Newly Newlywed Blog, we wanted to share all things DISNEY….starting with our menu today!

We literally park hopped ’til we dropped on Saturday. Fourteen plus hours of Park Hopping fun.Before we ended our Disney day we had a fantastic meal (and service) at Yak&Yeti at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, a park that is quickly becoming a favorite!

Yak&Yeti is a favorite in the park spot of mine, especially for lunch. It is a perfect spot for a casual, great tasting meal. They are one of the few in the park restaurants that actually have a bar- which is so nice for those of us that travel alone- especially if you can’t or didn’t make reservations. At the base of Expedition Everest sits Yak & Yeti Restaurant, a table-service eatery serving delicious pan-Asian cuisine. Reservations are encouraged, but if you are unable to score them on your trip, pop by and add your name to the wait list or see if you can grab a seat or two at the bar. If you’re an Annual Pass Holder you are able to use your discount, but sadly they do not accept Tables Cards. Yak&Yeti is a Landry’s Inc Restaurant, meaning if you’re a Landry’s card holder and you don’t have reservations you can get the next open table and you can score dining points! Such a great perk to being a card holder!

{Note: You do have to have a park ticket to dine at this restaurant.}

So what was on our menu for the night? Just a few of my most favorite dishes of course! We did a wide range of sampling, since it was Adam’s first visit after all!

We started with their Dim Sum Basket, a new dish for me! It was filled with Pork pot stickers, shrimp siu mai, cha su bao and pork siu mai steamed on a banana leaf, soy lime dipping sauce. So tasty! The Pork Siu Mai was definitely my favorite part of the basket.

After the Dim Sum Basket we snacked on their Ahi Tuna Nachos. This dish is MASSIVE. I often order it as my lunch and can never finish it all. It is Sushi grade Ahi, Asian slaw, crispy fried wontons, wasabi aioli, sweet soy glaze. So delicious!

We ended our meal with my FAVORITE dish Yak&Yeti offers, their Chicken Tikka Masala. It is some of the best I’ve ever had and yes, Adam loved it too! It is a Boneless chicken breast dish, marinated in yogurt and freshly ground herbs cooked in a traditional Masala sauce with jasmine rice and garlic naan bread. It’s a bit spicy which is nice. The Naan was tasty, but if I am being honest, not the best we’ve ever had- it was a bit soggy. Our neighbors Neil and Kokil have spoiled us with our Naan!

All and all we had a fantastic dining experience. The food was so good, the service was great (Mike the Manager visited our table multiple times) and we left stuffed! This was clearly not a Whole30 day for me, but a day at Disney and 15+ miles of walking, it was a well deserved and enjoyed meal! I am getting hungry thinking back to this amazing meal, aren’t you?

Have you tried Yak& Yeti? What’s your favorite dish? Do you have another favorite restaurant at Animal Kingdom? We’d love to hear about it and it to our list to try!

Last week we began our #ThrowbackThursday Thelma & Louise Adventure series. It’s full of lots of fun and laughs as Mom and I made our annual Road Trip to the GREAT state of Texas. We’re picking up mid-week into our grand adventure- come along and join in on our fun!

Mount Pleasant is a small, North East Texas town. They have a 4 screen movie theatre, a Walmart, a growing downtown square with a handful of cute local spots and that’s about it y’all. After seeing all the Big MP had to offer we had the bright idea to continue the road trip and head up to Oklahoma!

Oklahoma? Yes! Oklahoma! Pawhuska, OK to be exact! Why sit still when you can go, see, and do? We talked Aunt Tina, aka Mert, into joining us on our little adventure! We were off to see The Pioneer Woman! We’ve been to Paula Dean and Emeri’s restaurants. Sat in the audience for a filming of the Rachel Ray Show. Cooked with Cat Cora at Disney, so why not add another Chef to our list?

We doned our denim and cowgirl boots and hit the road towards Pawhuska! About 3 or so hours from Mount Pleasant and an hour from Tulsa. The Mercantile was everything we could have imagined and more! Beautiful wooden floors, rustic displays, exposed brick. {It reminded me of a more rustic Anthropologie.} They had Pioneer Woman Merchandise, like you can purchase at Walmart, and all sorts of kitchen and Mercantile branded products. I could have stayed there for days!

The line to eat at The Merc Deli was down the street! We were able to walk right in the store- no wait!

We did some shopping, picked up a few surprises for Adam, and of course had to sample some of Ree’s sweet treats from the Bakery upstairs. No surprise, it was delicious! We wanted it all! {Tip: Get the Cowboy Coffee if you visit! I crave it!}

Specific days of the year while The Pioneer Woman Show is not taping, they invite guests of the Mercantile to head to the Drummond Ranch and tour the Lodge. One of these days, just happened to be the day we visited! The views of the Drummond Ranch from the Lodge were absolutely breath taking. Everything you could see was their property.

We look like we fit right in at The Ranch, don’t you think?

We met the pups and the Drummond Ranchhand. I can’t reminder his name, but he has been working for the family for 30+ years! The nicest Cowboy y’all! He even wanted to get his picture with us Texas gals! I think we were the favorite visitors that day! Clearly!

Looks like Ree might have a little competition in the kitchen with Thelma, Louise & Mert!

Loved our time at the Lodge and highly recommend planning your trip to Pawhuska and The Mercantile when you can visit the Ranch too.

Our time in Oklahoma continued to Tulsa. Check back next Thursday as we Throwback and share the rest of our Thelma & Louise Adventures!

Have you been to the Mercantile or Drummond Ranch? Share your stories with us! Were you lucky enough to meet Ree too? What about your favorite Pioneer Woman recipes? I’d love to know which ones you and your family enjoy most!

We hope you’re enjoying your Newly Newlywed or Nearly Newlywed moments as much as we are!

There is no way you can make a tasty spaghetti with zucchini noodles. I’ll admit, it doesn’t compare to the real thing and honestly, it might take a little getting used to, but with the right Whole30 Compliant Sauce and full of flavor meat it can be a delicious substitution and SUPER quick meal!

There’s no real recipe. I just sort of threw together ingredients hoping to end up with something edible. Scary, isn’t it?

You can use whatever compliant sauce and meat you prefer, this is just what I used.

In a skillet, brown sausage. You can dice some onion and add it to it for more flavor and extra veggies if you want.

While the sausage browns, heat up a small pan and warm up spaghetti sauce. Transfer sausage to strainer and drain over pepper towels and remove excess oils. In the same skillet as the sausage was cooked in, add zoodles. Cook until desired tenderness. (I like mine pretty tender) Do not add any extra oil to the pan. It will just make the zoodles watery when added to the sauce- gross!

Add meat into sauce pan and stir together.

Once everything is cooked and warm. Add zoodles to a bowl. Top with meat/sauce mixture and top with fresh basil or oregano or both if you’d like! Enjoy!

Have you made a Whole30 Zoodle Spaghetti? What do you think about it? Do you have any tips for making it less watery? We’d love to know what you do to make it a delicious dish! This one is an easy recipe, but honestly, not one of my favorites. If I have the ingredients and don’t feel like spending a lot of time in the kitchen, I’ll make it, but it is not one of my favorites. Trying to get there though!

PREHEAT the oven to 350°F. Bring 4 cups water to a boil in a medium pot over medium-high heat. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

PREPARE THE SAUSAGE: In a small mixing bowl, combine all the sausage seasonings.

In a large mixing bowl, mix up pork and add seasonings a little at a time. {TIP: If you have plastic gloves, they are great to use while you fold in the seasonings and form the patties so your hands don’t get icky.}

Form pork mixture into (about) 8 small patties. (I typically get about 6) Place on a plate and chill in the freezer for 10 to 15 minutes while starting the sweet potato mash. (I don’t always chill my patties and they turn out just fine.

COOK the sweet potatoes in the boiling water until fork tender, 10 to 15 minutes. Drain and return the potatoes to the pot. Add 1 tablespoon of the ghee and coconut milk. Using a potato masher, immersion blender, or large kitchen fork, mash and mix the sweet potatoes with the ghee and coconut milk. (I add salat and pepper to the mash.) Cover the pot to keep warm and set aside.

REMOVE the sausage from the freezer and place on the parchment paper–lined baking sheet. Bake the sausage patties in the oven for 12 to 15 minutes, until the internal temperature reaches 145°F, and no pink remains in the middle of the patty.

MEANWHILE, heat the remaining 3 tablespoons of ghee in a large skillet over medium heat, swirling to coat the bottom of the pan. When the ghee is hot, add the onion and cook for 15 minutes, turning them periodically as they begin to brown and caramelize. (Do not rush this step—the browner the color, the more concentrated the flavor will be.)

TRANSFER the mashed sweet potatoes to the plate. Top with the pork and gently set the cartelized onions ontop of the pork. Enjoy!

This recipe can easily be doubled- I actually recommend it so you have left overs for breakfast or lunch the next day! You can also pre-mix the seasoning mixture and save in little zip-lock bags or in mason jars so you already have it ready when you’re making this dish. It will just save you a little time!

If you make this dish- let us know what you think! What’s your favorite Whole30 Dish? Share them with us!

We hope you’re enjoying your Newly Newlywed or Nearly Newlywed (Whole30) moments as much as we are!

Can you believe we’re already 22 days into the New Year? It seems like just yesterday we were gathered around the TV, watching the ball drop and counting down to 2018. The New Year brings new beginnings, new goals and new resolutions.

Like most of America, one of our resolutions is to get healthier. Oh, I know, I know….we all probably say it, but as January 1st came and went, so did our first day of another Whole30.

Here we are, 22 days in and feeling great! You might remember we began our Whole30 Lifestyle about this time last year. It was fantastic. We lost a few pounds, felt great, slept great, craved healthy food and then….Football Season happened. While all of our hard work didn’t go down hill, we did notice all the changes and honestly didn’t like how we felt. Together we pledged to continue what we started in 2017 and get back on the Whole30 Bandwagon.

We’re often posting photos on Instagram of our daily dishes and are constantly getting comments and messages asking “What’s the recipe,” “Can you send me your favorite whole30 dishes,” or “Oh my goodness! That looks so good! How did you make it?”

Seriously, I love the Whole30 love! It gets me so excited to continue this journey, play with recipes to make them compliant and share our story with you. I’ve loved connecting with friends over the Whole30 and helping each other continue this journey for whatever reasons they have for doing it.

You can betcha for weeks and months to come our weekly Monday’s Menu will be Whole30 inspired. Most of the recipes have come from Melissa Hartwig’sWhole30 books, Whole30 Recipes on Facebook or Instagram and from a few of my favorite Whole30 Bloggers. Wherever we find the recipe, we will make sure to add the link and give credit where credit is do.

One of my favorite Whole30 recipes comes from Anya’s Eats, Homemade Chicken Salad. It is a great basic recipe and is so versatile- you can really make it your own! Which is exactly what I’ve done.

If you are cooking the chicken, place in a large pot and cover with chicken broth. Or if you’ve got your Kamado Joe is hot, Adam will often inject the chicken with broth, season with salt & pepper and pop on the grill.

Bring to a boil then turn down to low, cover and simmer for about 1 hour. Chicken is done when it falls apart very easily.

Drain broth and place in large bowl.

If you are using leftover chicken, you can start here. Place chicken in a large bowl and pull apart with two forks until shredded. (TIP: Put your chicken in your Kitchen Aid stand mixer, attach the dough hook and turn on high to shred the chicken quickly and easily)

Add mayo and mix until fully combined. Start with ¼ cup and add more if you want it to be less dry.

Serve with celery sticks, sliced cucumber, or over a bed of lettuce. SO GOOD y’all!

I love this recipe. Like I said you can really interchange the ingredients and make it your own. Trust me…you won’t even know its Whole30 and not your normal Chicken Salad! The Primal Kitchen Mayo is delicious!

Adding the grapes and a few more ingredients helps to make the dish go further. It lasts us a week of lunches in our home and if you’re on the Whole30 you know how wonderful it is to not have to be in the kitchen all the time.

Do you have a favorite Whole30 Chicken Salad recipe? Have you made this with your own additions? Share your recipes with us! We’d love to give them a try too!

We hope you’re enjoying your Newly Newlywed or Nearly Newlywed (Whole30) moments as much as we are!

Day Six is for success.

Tuesday was a Dewey Date Day! A successful Dewey Date Day at that.

After Adam got home, we had supper and started cleaning the kitchen when we noticed a little date box from Dewey. Inside? A Gingerbread House Kit. So with six days left in our FaLaLaLa Fett’s Countdown to Christmas we made a Gingerbread House!

We are by no means pros at it! Our skills are about as good as a six year old’s! Icing everywhere and Samson anxiously waiting for tasty treats to drop for a quick retrieval.

It might not be pretty, but we’d like to think it was a success…it was still standing this morning! Yippie!

Does your family build a Gingerbread House at Christmas time? Do you make the cookies from scratch or like our little Elf Dewey, do you use a kit? Do you have any tips for keeping it together? Share them with us!

Day Five is for Festive Festivities.

Just kidding, Miracle on 34th Street will always be a favorite Christmas movie for me, but a new holiday favorite for the FaLaLaLa Fett’s is Miracle on Monroe. The ultimate festive festivity. Santa’s Workshop. Toy-Land. The North Pole. A “Christmas Dreamland” right here in Atlanta.

Miracle on Monroe is a pop-up Christmas bar that popped up in Atlanta last Christmas. Open from November 24th to December 24th, Wednesday to Sunday it’s quite the popping place! Expect to wait 2-6 hours to get in to explore this festive Adult Santa Land.

The walls are covered in wrapping paper. Strung lights cover the ceilings. A life size gingerbread house set up for photos and Christmas decor fills this Holiday Land.

Last week a few of my favorite ZTA ladies and I put on our most festive attire and popped by the pop-up bar to get in the HOLLYday spirit! It was a first for all of us and being that we wanted on Santa’s Good List, we were nice enough to invite Adam along too!

All the drinks are served in Christmas themed glassware and were oh-so tasty too! The “Bad Santa” was my favorite- a mulled red wine concoction.

If you’re in Atlanta between now and the 24th and you’re at least 21 make the time to pop on by this Favorite Festive Festivity of ours! We are already counting down the days for it to reopen next year!

Share your photos and thoughts of Miracle with us if you get a chance to visit!

Day Four is for {NOT} So Forced Family Fun.

You may or may not know this, but I LOVE Disney. Not in a weird obsession sort of way, but I definitely go more often and know more Disney facts than the average person. This is probably not one of Adam’s favorite things about me….actually I know it isn’t.

Two weekends ago the FaLaLaLa Fett’s and Giamfortone’s packed our bags and headed out of Atlanta (just before the snow) to the happiest place on earth. DISNEY WORLD! What says Christmas more than spending the holidays at Disney World???

Saturday we bundled up (in Florida) and headed to Disney Springs, aka Downtown Disney to shop, have lunch and visit the tour of trees.

{Disney Tip: If you’ve not done the tour of trees I highly recommend it!}

There were probably twenty different trees all in different Disney themes. Basically I wanted a picture with all of them, but Adam wouldn’t let me! We did however get our picture for next years Christmas Card! If you’ve not heard a few months ago we bought an airplane. The paint color on her just happened to be “Disney Blue.” After months of looking, Adam knew it was meant to be. We gave her the perfect name, “Elsa,” after Adam’s (not so) favorite Disney movie, Frozen.

As the sun went down, Mom, Dad, Adam and I took a bus over to the Wilderness Lodge– it is stunning year around and probably my favorite hotel on property.

Before heading back to Casa Mickey we returned to Downtown Disney (clearly I haven’t gotten used to calling it Disney Springs) to look at the main Christmas tree all lit up and take in the tunes of the Strolling Piano.

Sunday Adam and I braved the cold and did a little hotel hopping by the Polynesian and Grand Floridian before meeting up with my family at the Magic Kingdom for Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party. Not to mention we just happened to have arrived at the Grand Floridian in time for a little toddy. Who says adults can’t have fun at Disney too?

(Disney Tip- Spend a day hotel hopping while you’re in town- ask me more about it and I’ll be happy to share our tips and tricks!)

Adam and I did MVMCP last year and thought what fun it would be for a little Forced Family Fun to kick off the holidays! It’s an after hours event from 7pm-Midnight on select nights during the holiday season. You do not have to have an additional park ticket, but you do have to buy the specific ticket to the event. It is a wonderful time to see the park with NO lines for rides, special character greetings, parades and fireworks. Plus your ticket gets you unlimited treats and sweets during the party. It is the best way to do the Magic Kingdom at Christmas time.

Not having to wait in line for our favorite rides is worth it in itself!

We found the perfect spot to watch the Christmas parade and fireworks and did a little shopping before the clock struck twelve. We couldn’t be turning into pumpkins after all!

And of course, it wouldn’t be a trip to the Mouse House without trying on a pair of ears or two!

Have you been to Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party? Did you love it as much as us? We hope you’re enjoying your Newly Newlywed or Nearly Newlywed Very Merry moments as much as we are!